Here’s the latest from around the AL West…
- Angels GM Billy Eppler is non-committal about his team being sellers at the deadline, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times writes. “Let’s let this club play a little bit longer. There’s no rush to make a decision right now,” Eppler said. The front office wants to “get the full team intact and guys back on the field and healthy” before making any decisions, Eppler said, though Moura points out that this will be impossible given how many key pitchers are either out for the season or indefinitely shelved. It could be that Eppler is simply engaging in some gamesmanship, as the Halos’ record (31-44, last place in the AL West) would certainly indicate that they’ll be selling come August 1.
- Don’t look for the Athletics to trade reliever Ryan Dull, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Dull has been a bright spot for the A’s, posting a 2.31 ERA, 9.7 K/9 and 5.25 K/BB rate over 39 bullpen innings this season. The 26-year-old is under team control through the 2021 season, so it makes sense that Oakland hang onto Dull and instead focus on older players closer to free agency as possible deadline trade chips.
- Astros pitching prospect David Paulino has been suspended by the club for an undisclosed period of time, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. “We’ve got rules and every once in a while rules are violated and we have to enforce them,” GM Jeff Luhnow said, though he noted that Paulino’s violation “wasn’t anything major” and the 22-year-old righty won’t be out of action for too long. Paulino, ranked on top-100 prospect lists by Baseball America (91st) and MLB.com (98th), has a 1.86 ERA, 10.2 K/9 and 6.0 K/9 rate over 58 Double-A innings this season, with eight of his 13 appearances coming as a starter.
- Sam Dyson has emerged as the Rangers’ closer but is also tied for the league lead in appearances. As Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News writes, this is an untenable situation for any closer, especially one with a checkered injury history like Dyson. The logical answer is to limit Dyson’s innings, though that could be difficult with Texas in the thick of a pennant race. The Rangers are known to be exploring bullpen upgrades, and they could even replace Dyson at closer if the Yankees made Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller available.
